Improvement in shoal-indicators for ships



GpMILLE'R. Shoal lndoator for Ships..V No. 202,184.

uP a'tentecl April 9,1878.

Maw

\ N,FETERS, PHDTO-LITHOGRAFNER. WASHlNGTON, D C.

` shown by an index above the water.

'UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIGE.

CHARLESv O. MILLER, OF HAMILTO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TOJOB E. OWENS, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHOAL INDICATORS FOR SHIPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 202,184, dated April 9,1878; application filed March'', 1878.

To all whom t may concern: Y Be it known that I, CHARLES O. MILLER, ofHamilton, Butler county, Ohio, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Channel- Indicators for Boats, of which the following isa specification:

uThis invention relates to a device for measuring and indicating thedepth of water in front of a boat; and has for its object facility inavoiding obstructions, in searching for safe channels, and in makingsurveys of the bottoms of rivers. The invention consists, essentially,of an outreachingvarin attached to the bow of the boat, and a yieldingtracer attached to the forward end of .the outreach.

The tracer touches lightly the river-bottom some distance in ont of theboat, and as variations in the level of the bottom cause the tracer torise and fall, its relative position is This index may show at onceeither the exact depth of water in front of the boat, or it may show theexact depth or distance between river-bottom and keel-level, accordingto the manner in which the index is made to read. Furthermore, theoutreach is so attached to the bow of the boat as to allow the tracer tobe moved to the right or left of its normal position, by means of whichsweeping motion a channel may be searched for and found, if in closeproximity to the bow of the boat.

By means of this device danger becomes at once apparent, if present. Thefacilities for avoidingl it are enhanced, thus greatly adding to thesafety and speed of the navigation of shallow rivers. i

A simple record of the reading of the tracerindex, together with arecord of the geographical locality, furnishes at once va simple andeconomical method of surveying river-bottoms, being at the same Ftimemuch more accurate than the usual plan of sounding at intervals with thelead.

A device for recording automatically the depth of water abaft the bow ofa vessel was invented in 1876 by Echebarn and Durgess, of Brazil. Itconsisted of a recording-drag pulled by the vessel. In making simplebottom surveys this device may be equally as efcient as my invention;but for the purposes of shallow-water navigation it lacks all of theelements of premonitory indication which my invention so perfectlypossesses. erty of being used as a feeler or Searcher for deeper wateris also totally lacking in the device referred to.

Another device, invented in 1858 by Bridwell, has for its object theindication of depth' The letters of reference used refer to the sameparts in all of the figures.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, A is the bow of the boat, to whichis attached the outreach B, whose length determines the distance forwardof the bow at which the depth of water is indicated. While in use theoutreach remains horizontally iixed with reference to the boat-that is,it neither rises nor falls. I

From the extreme forward end of the entire outreach the cut-water Ireaches downward into the water, its lower end being about on a levelwith the bottom of the hull. The cutwater I is blade-shaped in section,as shown in Fig. 4, in order that it may offer but little resistance tothe progress of the boat, and at the same time possess sufficientstrengthin the direction in which the boat travels.

J is the tracer, which is hinged to the lower end of the cut-water. Thistracer is, like the cut-water, made blade-shaped in its general section,but is somewhat thickened and toeshaped at its lower end, in order thatit may not cut into the sand or mud over which it travels.

' The length of the tracer J is governed by the character of the vesseland of the stream navigated, and is simply made to reach to the greatestdepth which it is desirous to have n- The propdicated. A link, K,connects the tracer J with thevertical index-rod L, whose upper end,extending above the outreach, is always in plain view. The toe of thetracerJ rests upon the bottom of the river, and rises and falls witheach elevation or depression of the bottom. As the tracer rises it ofcourse falls backward, swinging upon the hinge at its upper end, and itsrising and falling motion will, through the medium of the link K, beconverted into vertical motion of the index-rod L. The relative positionof the upper end ofy the index-rod will thus show the positionA of thetracer, and consequently the depth of water in the channel. Theindex-rod may be graduated into inches, so that simple inspection showsat once the total depth of wat-er, or, by proper arrangement of the zeroof the index, the depth below hull. In case the index is made to showthe total depth, its zero will, of course, haveto be adjusted to thedraft of the boat. The tracer is pressed downward by a spring upon theindex-rod L, as shown, with sucient force to prevent the tracer yieldingtov the resistance of the water. Obviously a `weight may be substitutedfor the spring, to

keep the tracer in contact with the river-bot- 130m.

Only one of the properties of the arrangement lhas yet beenexplained-that of indieating the depth of water directly in front of thecenter of the boat.

Before proceeding to describe its other qualities of usefulness, it maybe well to explain the means by which the device is guarded fromaccidental injury, and also the means by which it is rendered capable ofbeing withdrawn from its normal position when out of use.

Referring still to Fig. l, it may be mentioned that in case the boatbacks while the tracer rests upon the river-bottom it would, from thenature of its shape, dig into the bottom and cause injury to the parts.The means provided for preventing this are simple, and consist inplacing a hinge with a horizontal axis at the point where the outreachis attached to the bow of the boat. This hinge is marked C in thedrawings, and allows the outreach to be lifted and retained in avertical position. Furthermore, in case the tracer digs in backin g, theoutreach will yield at the hinge C, and allow the tracer to rise withoutdamage. j In case the precaution of elevating the outreach should beneglected as the boat approaches a bank or dock, it is evident that thecut-water I would be liable both to inflict and sustain damage. This isguarded against by placing another hinge in the outreach. This secondhinge is near the forward end of the outreach, andis marked H in thedrawings. This hinge is held in its ordinary state of rigidity by thespring-latch M, which will yield to extraordinary pressure applied tothe cutwater, and allow the cut-water to yield and fall back. Upon theremoval of the pressure the eut-water resumes its normal position.

Vis the tail-piece.

The hinge H, it will be seen, thus forms a safety-brakein the outreach.In this connection it may be well to more fully explain the action of'the spring-latch M.

. That part of the outreach forward of the hinge H we may call thehead.7 It is marked Gr in the drawings. The head is provided at thehinge with a tail-piece, G', and it is this tail-piece which holds thehinge H practically rigid by reason of being held down by thespring-latch M. The spring-latch is shown on a somewhat larger scale inFig. 5, in which G( The shank It ot' the springlatch M is thin andproperly flexible. Extraordinary upward pressure on the tail-piece Gr',

produced by extraordinary pressure on the cutwater, will, of course,deiiect the spring-latch and free the tail-piece G from its detention.The tail-piece, in returning to its normal position, must displace thelatch again; but itis evident that the ilexibility of the shank R willnot be of service in this connection. End movement of the latch is nowresorted to in order to allow the tail-piece to pass it, and this endmovement is accomplished by means 0f bevels upon the latch-face and uponthe face of the tail-piece, as shown.

It is obvious that the latch will yield endwise, and allow thetail-piece to seat itself.

A spiral spring, T, returns the latch to its proper position over thetail-piece. The hinge H, in combination with the hinge C, allows theentire device to fold up when not in use, in the manner shown in Fig. 3.i

Themeans by which the traceris swept across the bow of the boat, feelingfor a channel, will now be explained. The outreach is attached to thebow of the boat by means of the vertical pivot D, in addition to thehorizontal hinge C, already referred` to. To this pivot is attached thedouble-ended lever F, in such manner that the lever is part of theoutreach, so that if the lever is swung around the outreach will swinground also.

Chains may bey led from the levers F into the hull and connected withany of the usual reverse-windlass devices placed on deck; or the samechains may extend to the pilot-house, and be connected with handlingmechanism placed therein. The side-sweeping motion of the outreach maybe effected precisely as with rudders.

Should an increasing bar be indicated in front of the boat, the outreachis swung round to either side till the run of the bar is indicated bythe index, and the better channel found.

It has been mentioned that the cut-water I was blade-shaped. As thus fardescribed, it is obvious that when the outreach is swung from itsnormalposition the cut-water will be presented to the water at an angle,and thus cause resistance to the boats progress. To avoid this thecut-water is so arranged as to remain parallel with the keel of the boatwithout regard to the position of the outreach. This is accomplished byallowing the cut-water to rotate, with reference to the outreach, upon avertical axis, and providing a parallel-motion device attached to thecut-water.

The upper end of the eut-water is journaled into the head Gr of theoutreach, and just under the head is provided with the double-endedlever P. Chains 0 O reach from this lever to the hull, as shown, andconstitute the parallel motion, as more fully demonstrated in theelemental plan, Fig. 4, which will need no explanation, as it is obviousthat the cut-Water will retain a constant position With reference to theboat.

It may be added that a segmental slot in the head of the outreachsuppresses all interference With the index-rod L, which would otherwiseresult from the rotation of the cut- Water with reference to the head G.

vIt may be pertinent to mention that the indicatin g motions of theindex-rod may, if desired, be converted into dial indications bymechanism Well understood and in common use, and that such dial may beplaced in the pilot-house, and the index motion transmitted thereto bycords or rods 5 or the dial may be placed conspicuously on deck, Withinview of the pilot.

I have not considered it necessary to elaborate herein the means bywhich the indexreadings may be made the most convenient or refined, orthe means by which the recordpaper of Echebarn and Burgess may beapplied to my invention.

Self-recording mechanism has been placed in a high state of perfection,and it is simply a matter of mechanical skill to place such mechanism inconnection With the index of my device.

I claim as my invention- 1. The outreach B, cut-Water I, tracer J, andindex L, all combined substantially as specied.

2. The outreach B, cut-Water I, tracer J, index L, and hinge-joint D,all combined substantially as speciiied.

3. The outreach B, cut-Water I, tracer J, index L, and hingejoint C, allcombined substantially as specified.

4. The outreach B, cut-Water I, tracer J, index L, hinge H, and latch M,all combined substantially as specied.

5. The outreach B, cut-Water I, lever P, and chains O O, all combinedsubstantially as specified.

6. The spring-latch M, with its exible shank R, combined With its endspring T, substantially as specified. Y

CHARLES C. MILLER Witnesses:

J. W. LEE, W. N. GRAY.

